A second 'doomsday fish' appears in California; third global sighting this year

Another oarfish, also known as the "doomsday fish", has come to the shore from deep waters in California. It made an appearance in San Diego County, Southern California, last week. Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography spotted the rare fish at Grandview Beach in Encinitas. The oarfish is believed to be the largest vertebrate across oceans in the world.

This is the second time that an oarfish has been seen in the San Diego area this year. The marine creature that washed ashore dead last week was smaller than the first one and measured around 10 feet long. The last time the animal was seen in California was in August and measured 12 feet.

The oarfish found in Encinitas has been transported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center where it will be studied. “Like with the previous oarfish, this specimen and the samples taken from it will be able to tell us much about the biology, anatomy, genomics and life history of oarfishes,” Ben Frable, manager of the Scripps Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection, said.

Doomsday fish sightings

Oarfish are rarely seen by humans, but this year alone it has happened three times - twice in the US and once in Australia. According to Scripps Institution, they have only been seen 20 times in California since 1901.

Also Read:Another 'doomsday fish' makes an appearance, this time in Australia

They live at depths of 20 metres to 200 metres and look like a silver ribbon and filter-feed on krill and crustaceans. They can grow up to a whopping 30 feet in length. When spotted on the surface, they look like serpents, adding to the tales of sea serpents.

Another oarfish was caught off the Australian coast of Darwin in September this year. Curtis Peterson from Tiwi Islands Adventures caught it and shared the photo on Fishing Australia TV on Facebook.

Why are oarfish called doomsday fish?

Oarfish live in deep temperate or tropical ocean waters and do not come out as regularly as other fish. So to spot one excites experts. But the fish is also believed to bring bad luck.

Also Read:'Doomsday fish' appears in California. Two days later, earthquake hits LA

The belief can primarily be associated with Japanese folklore which calls them harbingers of disaster. They have also been part of ancient tales of sea monsters, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Doomsday fish - California and Japan earthquakes

A few incidents in the recent past have further fuelled the belief that they bring disasters. Reports suggest that more than 20 oarfish were found on the shores of Japan months before the 9.1 earthquake that struck the country in 2011.

The oarfish found in August was spotted on the 10th of the month, and an earthquake of magnitude 4.4 hit Los Angeles on August 12.

Zachary Heiple, a doctoral student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told Live Science, "There's this thought that they're a doomsday fish or a bad omen and that they seem to signal things like tsunamis or earthquakes."

However, he doesn't believe the two are linked.